procession
Americannoun
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the act of moving along or proceeding in orderly succession or in a formal and ceremonious manner, as a line of people, animals, vehicles, etc.
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the line or body of persons or things moving along in such a manner.
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Ecclesiastical. an office, litany, etc., said or sung in a religious procession.
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Theology. the emanation of the Holy Spirit from the Father and later, in the Western Church, from the Son: distinguished from the “generation” of the Son and the “unbegottenness” of the Father.
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the act of coming forth from a source.
verb (used without object)
noun
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the act of proceeding in a regular formation
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a group of people or things moving forwards in an orderly, regular, or ceremonial manner
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a hymn, litany, etc, sung in a procession
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Christianity the emanation of the Holy Spirit
verb
Usage
What does procession mean? A procession is a line of people or vehicles moving along in an orderly and often ceremonial way. A very common example is a funeral procession, which is the line of cars or people traveling together to a burial. A parade is another kind of procession. Procession is the noun form of the verb process, meaning to proceed in or as if in a procession. Example: The procession was so long that they had to block traffic so it could stay together.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of procession
before 1150; early Middle English (< Old French ) < Late Latin prōcessiōn- (stem of prōcessiō ) a religious procession, literally, a marching on. See process, -ion
Explanation
A procession of mimes walking through the streets of your town would be surprising and somewhat terrifying. A line or group of people moving together in a deliberate way is a procession. You're most likely to see a procession during some kind of ceremony, parade, or festival. A line of cars moving together to a cemetery is a funeral procession, and a bunch of parents pushing babies in strollers in a parade are also a procession. Another meaning of procession is any line or succession of people moving continuously, like a procession of local politicians knocking on your door one afternoon. The root of procession is the Latin processio, "marching forward."
Vocabulary lists containing procession
Power Prefix: pro
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"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It takes over an hour for the whole procession to pass any one spot on the mountain, and they’re all but guaranteed to watch greats such as four-time champion Tadej Pogacar in full flow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Having performed at his funeral procession, the five-piece Bostin Brass brand performed on the streets of Birmingham throughout the day, including a performance at the Black Sabbath bench.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Crowds thronged the streets of Najaf on Wednesday as the coffin of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei moved through the holy city in a procession devoted to Iraq, home to Shia Islam's most sacred shrines.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Huge crowds filled the city of Najaf for a procession that ended at the mausoleum of Imam Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law and first Shia Imam.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
They escorted him through another small room and finally to the threshold of another doorway, where the procession halted.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Sunday was declared a public holiday across Iran, and later in the day Khamenei's body will be moved out of the Grand Mosalla ahead of a processions through the capital on Monday.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
They often hold public processions and are widely seen receiving alms of goodwill from ordinary Thais.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
“You’d have tens of thousands of people and sheikhs in the streets, all roads closed to cars, processions all over the city, food being served. That’s why they called it ‘The City of Hussein.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
Instead he took to wearing colorful robes while making grand processions to Friday prayers and giving interviews to the foreign press.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
“A great host? I should love to see them. I always enjoy processions and that sort of thing.”
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
